[ACCEPTED] Merenaz Caliphate (NTS)

Kingdom Name: Merenaz Caliphate

Kingdom Race:
Humans - Humans are the youngest race around, and they have the most to learn. However, humans are also the most eager to learn the ancient art of magic, and they are also one of the more honorable races. Human kingdoms are varied and diverse, which leads credence to the idea that humans are a powerful race indeed. Average lifespan of 70 years.
Jack of all Trades - Humans have no genetic specialty or predisposition. They are eager to attempt all facets of life, from the magic of the elves to the haggling of the halflings, because of this many human kingdoms often choose a single route and go with it.
-- Receive 2 Military Points per 1,000 citizens a week.

Corruption - Humans do have a weakness, and it is a lust for power. Some do it for themselves, some do it for others, but it is humans above all else whose hearts are the easiest to turn against their brethren. While it is almost impossible to envision an entire kingdom to be corrupted, it is very common for human leaders to be tainted or bribed against their own.
* Human leaders are much more easily corrupted or bribed.

Kingdom Size: Moderate
A moderate kingdom possesses a capital and two cities, as well as having adequate land surrounding all three settlements for sufficient growth. A moderate sized kingdom is ripe both for growth as well as conquest.
* Has two cities and the Capital.

Name of the Capital and surrounding Cities (if any):
-Hadrallah(Capital)
Located at the western edge of the caliphate next to the body of water in the west. Hadrallah has been the most prosperous city even before the Period of the Warring States. After the great war is over, Hadrallah is still the jewel of the desert albeit dimly as the once prosperous state now falls into disrepair and neglect. Under the new caliphate, Hadrallah is made the capital and now a thriving city once more, it is also home to the magnificent Emerald Jade Palace, resident of the Grand Caliph and his family.

-Telmatalhamar
Located further south in a slightly lush and fertile valley bordering to another body of water that's connected to the great sea. Telmatalhamar is a relatively new city onto itself. It was founded by a powerful chieftain just before the period of the warring states and it is largely untouched by the great war. A century has passed and the city has grew from a bustling town to a thriving port city that rivals the grandeur of Hadrallah itself.

-Ishtafar
Ishtafar is perhaps the oldest settlement in the Merenaz Caliphate to have survived till today. It is said that when the first oasis was discovered by the Aremians, they built tents surrounding it, those tents have over the past centuries evolved into tall and magnificent buildings that can be seen in Ishtafar nowadays. Though old and slightly neglected, Ishtafar retains its importance due to it being an industrial city that supplies the entire nation with the much needed resources.

Government: Republic(Shura Council) - Shura Council is almost similar to that of a republic system of governance. The people of Aremish would elect an elder whose knowledge regarding religion and governance far exceed the common folks, these elders would then be given a seat within the ruling council called the Shura Council whose members are called the Aalimis. There can only be 23 Aalimis at any one time and each of them governs and supervises certain part of the lands. The Aalimis are charged with representing the people and voting for the next Grand Caliph to rule the caliphate. Candidates must always be from the special noble families who were once, the families of the defeated hereditary rulers of Aremian deserts. These noble families would choose a representative of their house and teach him the art of governance, the knowledge of their religion and the knowledge of warfare. Afterward, these representatives would be asked to wander throughout the land with whatever provisions given to them by their family to win the hearts and minds of the people. When the time has come for the current Grand Caliph to step down, the Shura Council will convene and voted for their favorite candidate based on the common people's perspective, the candidate with the most votes, becomes the next ruler of the caliphate.
Power of the People - The people are the ones with true power in a Republic. What the people want they get, and generally speaking the people dictate how well the country is fairing based entirely on their own attitude.
* All Trade Agreements and Natural Resource Nodes make either 50% more or less depending on the people's welfare.
Divided People - What the people want, the people get and if the leader of the Republic is doing something they don't want, they'll let the leader know.
* Public dissent occurs if the leader does something unwanted by the population.

Nation Leaders:
Khaleed Al-Hareezi, the Grand Caliph

Spoiler:

The third grand caliph to be elected to the position of Grand Caliph by the Shura Council, Khaleed is the youngest son of the Hareezi Noble House. Since his childhood, his father the patron of House Hareezi have been neglecting him in favor of his eldest brother Ar-Rayahn, the heir to the Hareezi noble house, unfortunately Ar-Rayahn is a power monger but despite that shows no desire to rule and manage the caliphate but instead wasting time at the shisha house and watching belly dancers while surrounded by his other unruly friends. Unlike his older brother, Khaleed enjoys sophisticated poetry and philosophy, and his passion knowledge. Despite being neglected by his father, he was given all he wanted, a sign of pampering for a rich and noble son, yet all he ever asks for are tomes and books from distant lands, chronicles of the nation’s great heroes and books on philosophy.

It was however against his father wishes when he enters as another candidate to the title of Grand Caliph, contesting his own elder brother and he did this through political maneuvering and building alliances with strategic members of the Shura Council. Against everyone expectation, he outwitted all other contestants and even his own brother to become the Grand Caliph at the age of 25, one of the youngest grand caliph to be installed to the Crescent Throne.

Amir Ziyaad Shaheer

Spoiler:

One of the oldest most veteran Amir who had taken up office since before Khaleed took over as the Grand Caliph. Ziyaad is one of the Khaleed’s staunchest ally and the very first who had joined him to overtake Ar-Rayahn in the election. Commanding the Emirate's first cohort, he had blazed through the fields of battle to mark himself as the Caliphate’s most feared and resourceful tactician.

Lady Iraa

Spoiler:

Lady Iraa is the older sister to the grand caliph Khaleed, during the time of the previous grand caliph she was amongst those that was the most critical of her older brother Ar-Rayahn and had many times tried to persuade her father to let Khaleed took over, unfortunately her father favors his oldest son the more and was too blinded to realized there is no prospect in supporting the uncharismatic and unreliable Ar-Rayahn. Lady Iraa too is one of Khaleed’s first supporter and have since took major political office to help her younger brother ruled the Caliphate while her father and her older brother was simply cast aside by Khaleed for what he calls, ‘their stubborn stupidity’.

She helps with the administration of the government as well as keeping everyone in line from the Harem in the Emerald Jade Palace(Contrary to what people believed, harem is not really a house of concubines so that the sultan or ruler of the kingdom could have their bits of entertainment there, a harem is actually an institution of the government that involves the female members of the ruler’s family and more often than not, political maneuvering and intrigues happens here instead of in the court). Lady Iraa has an entire retinue of Assassins at her back and call, the moment she saw a political figure undermining her brother’s effort or a member of the nobles secretly working with the enemy, then she only needs to point her fingers and her agents would act immediately.

Mirzinna

Spoiler:

The First and official wife to the grand caliph and currently the only one, Mirzina comes from a family of impoverished nobles whose fortune have nearly runs out. It was unsure what made the Caliph chose her as his wife and consort but Mirzinna quickly proved herself worthy of becoming the Caliph’s wife. She is, aside from being an advisor and consort to the caliph, is also the highest ranking diplomat of Merenaz Caliphate entitled with the authority to make decision that could affect the entire nation as such she is a well spoken, well endowed and certainly manipulative just as her husband in politically outwitting their opponents.


Population Size: approx 90,000 - have a Modest birthrate :
- Increase of 1,200 a week.

Kingdom's National Trait: Masters of the Realm - Aremians have lived in the hot dry desert of Aremish for centuries so it is not all that difficult to understand their mastery over this element. They have learn to recognized tracks across the desert so as not to lose their way in the burning desert and have learn to be able to resist the hot climate and lasts longer without water.
* May choose one of the following Environments. The Kingdom has improved martial prowess and logistics in that environment, and resources found in this environment provide +1 extra Economic Points. Your Kingdom MUST be at least half within this environment:
-- Desert - Your people are desert people, adept at surviving long periods without water and surviving the burning heat.

Military Trait: Great Leadership - Along with the Aalimis, the Shura Council also stands of 12 Amirs. These are the supreme commanders of the caliphate's military forces. They ranked higher than any generals or commanders put together and their membership are strictly those of commanders or generals who have distinguished themselves doing incredibly heroic or impossible deeds. In war time, these Amirs acts as the right hand of the caliph himself in that all other generals would answer to them in times of war, in other cultures they may simply be referred to as Grand Marshalls.
* Armies become extremely difficult to route and forced to retreat.
* Enemy armies facing kingdoms armies have lowered morale.
* Increase weekly Cultural Points by 1

Economic Trait: Financing - Aremians are merchants at heart and would like nothing more than to expand their trades and businesses. For this purpose, the caliphate has allowed for the creation of merchant's guild and the direct result of this is the economic boom of the caliphate in the following years after the great war.
- Generates 2 Economic Points per week
- Kingdoms with Financing may take out loans (Economic Points) and pay them off at a later date, maximum of 50 Economic Points.
- Kingdoms may also give out loans to other kingdoms.
- Kingdom has increased market volatility

Social Traits: Religious Devotion - The people of the Caliphate have a widely accepted the Lord Creator as their primary and only God rather than the old religions that involves multitudes of pantheon. Under the new religion, temples and grand temples are built to glorify their new deity and in each of these grand temples are the Aalimis that led the flocks.
* Minor Religious Centers generate 1 Cultural Points a week.
* Major Religious Centers generate 3 Cultural Points a week.
* Allows the purchase of Religious Zealots for 1 MP.

Weakness Traits: Opposing Political Factions - The fall of the hereditary rule is quite recent in the history of the Aremian people. While the surviving families of these former emirs and sultans still lived today and abides by the rules set by the the first grand caliph, they do so begrudgingly. Each of these noble houses were stripped of all their fortunes by the end of the great war, but after the death of Addib, these noble houses have prospered and now possess their own mercenary armies. The only thing preventing them from returning the Merenaz Caliphate to the state of hereditary rule like before is the strict and powerful Shura Council but even they have their limits.
* Increased chance of civil war.
* Increased chance of assassination attempts.
* Increased chance of kingdom capitulation.

Kingdom History: The people of Aremish are natives to the Aremian Deserts around 750 AE and are some of the oldest culture to have emerge in the world. Prior to the formation of the Merenaz Caliphate, the Aremians lived in a disunited emirates and tribes that revolves around the few precious oasis of the desert. These emirates and tribes are often ruled by hereditary chieftains and elders over the ages and its people look to them for guidance. Many of these tribes and emirates have perished either due to natural disaster that struck their lands or due to wars and conflicts with other tribes. Indeed, the people of Aremish are disunited, each of the chieftains and emirates vied for power and the only power in the deserts are resources and currently the most important one, is water. It is said, whomever controls all the oasis of Aremian Desert, is the Lord of the Desert.

Over hundreds of years, some of the surviving tribes or emirates grew into prosperity while others becomes a bustling town upon itself. Those few prosperous ones were able to build city centered around their original oasis, complete with its own government system and city walls to protect their people. No longer fighting to get oasis, the people of Aremish has learn how to build aqueducts and irrigation system to support their growing people. This is turn caused massive population growth created a few powerful states and it didn't take for the old wars to return.

The Aremians are once again thrown into what is now known as the period of the warring states in 133 AE, between a dozen of powerful emirates and sultanates. Believing in the legend that whoever controls all the oasis of the desert may claim the title as the lord of the desert, these warlords and chieftains wage war upon each other resulting a decade long war that kills almost half of the Aremians population. Half of the dozen contestant to the title of the lord of the desert remains in the end but their resources squandered and these few emirates and sultanates are at the brink of bankruptcy that would spell doom for their nation. Officially, the remaining desert powers strike a temporary truce in 73 AE.

It was during this dark time that a hero emerge from amongst the populace, before his coming, the people of Aremians worship the Aremish pantheons of the old gods of the desert. These gods are also some of the reasons why the various warlords wage war against each other, in the name of their sworn gods or goddesses. This hero was a simple commander of a mercenary army, and his name is Addib Ibn Merena. He claim to have received a vision during one of his journey of how the true master of the universe weeps for the fallen souls, for all the innocent's death and blood that had been spilled in the name of fame, power and false gods. Addib was popular amongst the populace of whom he had squandered most of his fortune trying to help them in those dark times. As his popularity increases, the remaining chieftains and Sultans, considers him a threat to their waning power.

Addib, was able to round up the support of the lower and middle class by the third year after the devastating war was over and by that time, the remaining sultans and chieftains formed a pact to undermine him in the eyes of his followers, calling him a heretic and such. However, his new religion, worshiping what he had called, the Lord Creator was a religion that requires an act of devotion that doesn't differentiate the poor or rich and this quickly became the centerpiece of Addib's struggles to free his people from the oppression of the hereditary rule.

Through careful political maneuvering and instigation while pitting the already weakened sultans against each other, Addib was able to exploit the opportunity and form his own faction whom he dubbed, the people's faction. It wasn't difficult as these remaining hereditary rulers already have a lingering hatred against each other even if they formed a truce after the devastating war. A brief war broke out between the remaining sultans and chieftains and taking the advantage of this situation, Addib muster his forces and quickly defeated the remaining hereditary rulers of Aremian deserts. At the end of the war, Addib institutionalized a new type of government system that he believed would lead his people into an era of peace and prosperity, by this time, the old hereditary system has become nothing more than a past nightmare and the worship of the old religion has all been abandoned. This new government system, in which he calls the Shura Council will see the people electing their representative, their community and spiritual leader to own a seat in the Shura Council and this Shura Council will in return elect their supreme leader for life.

Addib became the first Grand Caliph in 60 AE, a title given to the supreme ruler of the Aremian people and proclaim from that day onward, the people of Aremish shall unite under one banner, a nation he named, Merenaz Caliphate in honor of his late father whom he had attributed his victory and his quality as a leader. The Aremians people faced a new enlightenment age, idol worshiping and the religions of the old gods who had become one of the many elements that made such wars possible has also been abandoned in favor of the Lord creator's religion, the very same that Grand Caliph Addib had preached before he rises to power.

Kingdom's Location:



Kingdom's Military / Military Spending: (180 points in total) (13500 troops in total)
Light Infantry Companies - 20 Companies(40 points = 6000 troops
The light infantry regiment of the Merenaz Caliphate, currently stands of two different organization, the Ghazi Infantry who are armed with a wooden spear or halberd and adorned with simple desert robe over a boiled leather armor makes up the supporting line troops that are able to move swiftly in the desert and reinforces battered lines. The second is that of the Desert Archers who serves as the mainstay of the caliphate's missile troops. Adorned similarly in fashion to the Ghazi Infantry, these troops are however armed with different set of weapons. A crude dagger that they strapped by their waist belt and a composite bow as their primary weapon.

Heavy Infantry Companies - 10 Companies(30 points = 3000 troops)
Being a desert nation, Merenaz Caliphate had rarely ever relied on the superiority of heavily armored troops since the desert heat would probably boiled those soldiers alive in their armor and made it hard for them to cross the desert dunes. However, the caliphate does maintain a rather small company of elite heavily armed troops. These are the Emirate Cohorts. These soldiers are specially trained to survive in the desert with a more cumbersome armor(but not by much). They are armed with a large rounded shield and a scimitar as well as adorned with lightweight chainmails.

Light Cavalry Companies - 10 Companies(30 points = 3000 troops)
Aside from the obvious infantry regiments, the caliphate also maintain a strong light cavalry force. These are divided into two groups, the first one being the Mounted Desert Archers. These troops are basically the mounted version of the desert archers but are highly trained to shoot and ride their steed at the same time, giving them mobility and range advantage over the more slowly moving infantry, especially in the desert. The second one is the Fedayyin, these are the natives of the deep desert dwellers and are rather shunned and feared by the more civilized folks of the caliphate. The Fedayyin are a group of tribes that were excluded from the great war and even during peaceful times were rarely seen in the more civilized area, they do however benefit from the caliphate and offer their military service as camel riding mounted troops. Armed with boiled leather armor and javelins that they could throw at their enemies.

Heavy Cavalry Companies - 5 Companies(20 points = 1500 troops)
Farisi Cataphracts are the caliphate's heavy cavalry force, while not really preferring the use of heavy cavalry in mounted engagements, the caliphate have adapted to the use of charging tactics as opposed to their more traditional military doctrine that teaches them to use ranged weapon and speed when engaging in mounted combat. The cataphracts are however a sight to behold in any battlefield, armed with steel lamellar armor painted in gold dye, these heavy cavalry are a force to be reckoned with especially when they charged into a column of infantry units with their lance bearing down upon the enemy.

-Catapults(5 units = 5 points)
-Battering Ram(5 units = 5 points)
-Siege Tower(1 unit = 5 points)

-Transport ship(5 units = 15 points)
-Bireme(10 units = 30 points)
(0 MP left)

Kingdom's Resource Nodes / Economy:
-Foodstuffs - Foodstuffs are staple foods raised in farms as agriculture, or hunted in the forests and on the plains in order to feed the entire population. They are absolutely essential to the livelihood of a kingdom and without it, a kingdom will quickly drop into recession and its people will begin to starve and die at an alarming rate.
* Feeds the entire population.
* Portion of the population will begin to starve if a Moderate or Massive amount is traded away.
* Generates 1 Economic Point a week unless being traded away in a Moderate or Massive amount.

-Jewels: Generate 2 Economic Points per week and 2 Cultural Point per week unless being traded away in a Moderate or Massive amount.

--Generates 3 Economic Point a week
--Overall, the caliphate is generating 5 economic points per week

Kingdom's Cultural Points:
--Overall, the caliphate is generating 3 cultural points per week

Merenaz Caliphate

Government Civic: Republic - A republic is a form of government in which people or the representatives of the people have ultimate power rather than the power being vested in a monarch or despot. The people or their representatives may elect a leader, but that leader's power derives from the consent of the people.
-- Generates +1 Happiness per city per week.

Labor Civic: Free Workers - Workers in the kingdom can work with whom they please. Some wish to be masons, some wish to be scribes and others wish to join the military. There is no hierarchy that dictates who is born into what. Farmers becoming kings is still a near impossibility, but only in a society where workers are free to work where they wish is it possible that innovative new ideas can be added, traded and viewed to become usable, rather than in a heavily protected society where artists trudge stone and masons fight in the king's army.
-- Requires only 30 Economic Points for a Golden Age requirement.
-- Capital starts with a Library Construct and all other Library Constructs cost 6 Economic Points less.

Legal Civic: Citizenship - Citizenship is the policy of a nation that acknowledges that a certain group of people, usually based upon their race or tribe or where they were born, are members of that nation, and as such, deserve a certain amount of protection as well as some rights and privileges, above and beyond those accorded to foreigners. For example, a citizen can often move around the country freely, while a non-citizen may be subject to deportation or imprisonment if discovered by the authorities.
-- Requires only 75% of maximum Happiness for a Golden Age requirement.
-- Marketplaces generate +1 Economic Points per week.

Religion Civic: Organized Religion - Organized religion is one in which a number of people follow the same religious practices and have the same beliefs. The religion may have priests who intercede with higher powers on behalf of the believers or who set/interpret the religion's rules. There may be a complicated hierarchy of priests and other religious leaders. The religion may have temples or other sanctums in which the people pray and worship. Generally the believers contribute money to support the religion, its priests and buildings. Generally, organized religion is a force of stability within a culture. People who share a religion have something important in common, and although strangers are less likely to murder each other. It can also be quite divisive as well - historically many organized religions have seen other religions as threats or abominations, and more than one war has been fought over whose god is the real God.
-- Kingdom will have a Major Religion that starts at 70% of the kingdoms population. Your kingdom's capital will be that Major Religion's capital.
-- Missionaries cost 50% less.

Military Civic: Espionage Network - The Espionage Network gives a Kingdom superior clandestine abilities by formalizing a system of spies, contacts, operatives, and organizers. With specialized training and a complex system, the network's operatives can outperform mere hired thugs or prying ears. In addition, Espionage Networks study ways to extract information from prisoners, and also train their own members and politicians in resisting these methods.
-- Subjects of kingdoms with Espionage Network are more resistant to interrogation.
-- Espionage Activities may now be carried out. Their success is determined by how much Economic Points are spent on them.

Population: 96,000 ( +700 a week )

Happiness: 172/300 ( -2 )

Religion: Aremian Monotheism / Major Religion ( 70% / 0% Growth )

Military Points: 89

Economic Points: 32 (Increase of 6 a week) ( +2 for Hero ) ( +5 for Racial Trait )

Cultural Points: 18 (Increase of 5 a week) ( +2 for Hero )

Merenaz Military

20 Spearmen Regiments
-- (6,000 Human Spearmen)

10 Heavy Infantry Regiments
-- (3,000 Human Swordsmen]

10 Light Cavalry Regiments
-- (3,000 Human Light Cavalry)

5 Heavy Cavlary Regiments
-- (1,500 Human Heavy Cavalry)

5 Catapults
-- (150 Human Soldiers)

Merenaz Navy

5 Transports
- (500 Sailors)

10 Biremes
- (1,200 Sailors)

LIMITS

Iron:
45/0.

Wood:
26/0.

Horses:
15/10.

Resources

-Foodstuffs - Foodstuffs are staple foods raised in farms as agriculture, or hunted in the forests and on the plains in order to feed the entire population. They are absolutely essential to the livelihood of a kingdom and without it, a kingdom will quickly drop into recession and its people will begin to starve and die at an alarming rate.
* Feeds the entire population.
* Portion of the population will begin to starve if a Moderate or Massive amount is traded away.
* Generates 1 Economic Point a week unless being traded away in a Moderate or Massive amount.

-Jewels: Generate 2 Economic Points per week and 2 Cultural Point per week unless being traded away in a Moderate or Massive amount.

Constructs

Fortress - A huge fortress of stone, it can hold 30 Military Units and has the equivalent of Minor Stone Defensive Walls and has small towers posted on all corners with a central gate. These can be built anywhere. (Old Kingdoms Trait)
* Requires Stone Resource Type.
* Costs 54 Economic Points.

Library - 36 Economic Points - The Library is the apex of learning and culture in a kingdom. A Library generates +2 Economic Points, +2 Cultural Points and +1 Happiness Point per week. Maximum of 3 per city.

Trade Agreements
Empire of Mille Sessau
-- Trading Gems for 10 Horses ( -1 EP, -1 CP / + 10 Horse Unit Cap, +1 EP )